Demountable rim for wheels.



0. A. PARKER.

DEMOUNTABLE RIM. FOR WHEELS.

APPgpcmon mm) AER-1.119%. 1,18,20. v Yatented 31111620, 1916.

' a SHEETS-SHEET x.

A Pamier 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

, Patemed J1me 20, 1916.

0. A. PARKEMQ' DE'MOUNTABLE RIM FOR WHEELS.

APPLICATION FILED' APR. 1 19 16.

I; 3 MN I I n as,

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'nEMoUn'rABin aria-Fen WHEELS T 0 all whom it may concern Beit known that I, ORREL A. PARI LER, a citizen" of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Demountable Rims for the same point both a radial and lateral pressure upon the rim (such as wedge clamps forced between the'felly and rim, or wedge rii'igs forced in by clamps) ,a considerable degree of skill is required for fastening a rim with such devices, because if skill andcareare not exercised the rim is liable to be bolted on out of a true plane withthe Wheel, and the rim may be drawn off center in the tightening up of the looking elements. If one wedge or clamp is bolted too tight, the demountable' rim is usually forced out of the plane of the wheel and eccentric with regard to the Wheel center at the same time, v

The object of my invention is to obviate these defects, and provide a demountable rim, fastening means, and a wheel body, of

such constructions that the rim can be quickly and easily-mounted upon the wheel body in a. true plane with the wheel, and

,radially tension'ed without danger of unduly distorting the rim and throwing the same off center.

Another object is to provide a construe-z tion in which a minimum number of looking elements or fastening devices are necessary to accomplish all of .the before men- .tioned advantageous results, and a still further object is to provide locking elements which shall be devoid of all wedging action,

' because it is the wedging action, radially features of construction andthe manner of combining the same, all of which will be fully described hereinafter and set forth in the appended claims .the point of the valve stem opening.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patgn tedJ 119 20, 1916,

' Application filed Apr-i1 1,1916. Serial No. 88,262.

I In the drawings, forming'a part OI this specification,-Figure l is aface view of a wheel, partly in "section, illustrating the.

practical application of my invention. Fig. i

2 is a cross-sectional detail of the rim, felly and lateral clamping means. Fig. isa cross-sectional view. of the rim, felly and radial tensioning means. Fig; 4 is a crosssection taken through the rim and fell at i .5 is a cross-section showing the felly and its band and the rim with one of its spacing blocks in contact with the shoulder or-stop ofthe any band. Fig. 6 is a detail crosssectional view showing a slightly modified form of tensioning means. Fig.- 7' is a face view, partly in section, of a slightly modifled form of Wheel embodying my invention. F g. 8 is a longitudinal sectional View of the wheel and rim at the transplit portion of therim. Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the clamping means used in connection with the wheel illustratedv in Fig. 7. lfig. 10 is a cross-sectionalview of the tensioning means employed on such "wheel.

Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional viewof a still 3 furthermodification of the clamping means;

and Fig. 12 is a detail sectional view of another modified form of rim.

I have shown my invention applied to the ordinary artillery type of wheel, but it is obvious that the same principles in'modified form may be used III'COIIIIGCiJlOIl with other types of wheels. The felly 15 has a metallic the wheel body by means of the-lateral clamping devices.

The rim 18 maybe of the clencher or d straight side type and can be transplit or continuous, and has blocks 19 connected to l the innerface thereof at definite points, said 109 blocks being connected in any'suitable man edges, the inner faces of said blocks being fada pted to contact with the stopor shoulder 17 while the outer faces a bane of these blocks are engaged by lateral clamping or lockingv element for the purpose of force ing the rim to its true position and then, lockin the same thereon. These blocks are her, and having flat inner and outer faces or' nf su cient thickness to occ nv the necessary clearance between the felly and rim, and in the "present construction this clearance can be considerably less than the clearance necessary in the type of wheels now in common use employing. locking elements which have a radially outward and laterally inward wedging action at the same point. The blocks 19 in my construction serve the double purpose of spacing the rim from the felly and also act as positioning means for arranging the rim in its true plane upon the wheel body, as the blocks 19 are always brought into contact -with the stop or shoulder 17 and se'eurelyheld against the same by the clamps 20 arranged upon the bolts 21 which extend through the felly of the wheel.

The clamps 20 are right-angled in form, the horizontal part being shaped to engage the fiat edge or face of the block 19, and the vertical portion apertured to receive the bolt, this aperture being preferably elongated so that the clamp 20 can be moved out of the way. after' the clamp has been loosened, thereby leaving the rim free to be removed from the felly.

; The nut 22 can be arranged upon the inner end of the bolt, as shown in Fig. 2, or the nut can be arranged upon the outer face of the wheel, as shown in Fig. 9; and, if desired, the felly can be mortised at 24: to receive the clamp 25 and nut 22, as shown in Fig. 11, the clamp in this construction being connected direct to the rim and fitting into andseating against "the felly band; the fastening means shown in Figs. 9 and 11 be ing used in connection with the wheel and rim illustrated in Fig. 7.

The blocks 19 are preferably spaced at equidistant points around the entire circumference of the rim, and as many may be employed as found necessary.

The felly and band are constructed with the usual valve stem opening26 and dowel recesses 27, the rim being provided with dowels 28 uponopposite sides of the valve stemopening and adjacent thereto and adapted to enter the recesses or sockets '27,

- thereby" properly positioning the rim upon the folly band at this point.

In practice, the rimwith the inflated tire thereon is placed upon the wheel body, the

valve stem passing through the valve stem opening in the band and folly and the dowels 28 enter the .recesses 27, and the lower or opposite portionof the rim is then permitted to swing freely toward the wheel body, and, there being sullicient clearance, the rim will readily fit over the folly band. If there be no obstructions, such as mud, dirt, rust or other foreign substance, the blocks 19 will contact at once with the lateral stop 17; but if for any reason the rim should not fit properly upon thefelly band,

the clamp 20 can be brought into engagement with the block and, by tightening'the nut and bolt, the clamp exerting pressure upon the block will cause the same'to move inwardly until a positive engagement is had between. the block 19 and the stop 17.

It will be noted by reference to Fig. 1, that only two lateral clamps are employed, as in practice I have found these to be sufficient, said clamps being arranged at proper points opposite the dowel connections, but it will be understood that any desired number oflateral clamps may be employed and, for a medium sized wheel, six will be found amply sufficient.

After the rim has been properly positioned 'or centered in its true plane upon the wheel body, I tighten the rim by means of a suitable number of tensioning devices, preferably in the form of a radial bolt 30 working through a sleeve 31 located in the felly, the end of. the bolt being fiat or straight and engaging the fiat and straight inner face of the rim, said bolt being applied to exert a radial pressure ,or tension upon the rim which, in connection with the spacing blocks 19, serve to bind the rim tightly upon the wheel body.

In Fig. I have shown the sleeve 31 as provided with a head 32 at its outer end and its inner end projects slightly beyond the inner face of the felly and between the end of the bolt and sleeveI arrange a jam or lock nut 33 for the purpose of locking the radial tension bolt after the'same has been adjusted to its proper position.

In Fig. 6 I have shown the sleeve 31 with its outer end countersunk at 34 and the end of the bolt 35 enlarged and flattened in order to provide a broad bearing surface against the rim. The lock or jam nut 33 is employed inthis construction and operates exactly the same as previously described. By means of the jam-nuts 33 all danger of the radial bolts working loose is avoided, but if said bolts should ever become loose the lateral clamping means would be sulficient to maintain the rim upon thefwheel body and by simply turning up the tension bolts into locking engagement with-the rim,

it, the rim, will be immediately restored to its locked and completely fastened condition upon the wheel body.

Instead of making the outer end of the bolt enlarged and flattened, the rim could be made with hearing blocks at these points in order to provide a suitable bearingsurface for the end of the screw, the end of the screw and the bearing face of the block being perfectly flat, as in the other constructions previously described.

In the construction shown in Fig. 7, the folly and its band are flattened, as indicated at .40, and in this type of wheel the felly band is preferably devoi of the lateral stop or shoulder. Upon op Jsite sides of the flattened portion, the folly and its band are a the radial bolts .30, .there being preferably. four such bolts employed, arranged at equi- 5,0

formed with dowel recesses 41 to receive the dowels 42 carried by the rim upon oppoflattened portion 40 of the felly band. This locking plate 43 is riveted to one end of the rim and projects beyond the dividingcut of the same, and just beyond thevalve stem opening this plate is provided wlth a lug 44 adapted to engage an opening 45 produced in the rim, and, in addition to the lug 44 formed upon the plate 43, a headed stud ,46 is attached to the rim and is adapted to engage a diagonal-shaped slot produced in the end of the plate for the purpose of guiding the locking plate into position so as to bring the lug 44 into engagement with the opening 45 and then hold the parts against separa-.

tion. It will be notedthat a plate constructed in this manner completely fills the sectorshaped space between the felly band and rim and has its thickest portion at the point of division in the rim and where strength 1s.

most needed. In this type of-wheel, the felly for substantially one-half of its cir-. cumference *(the upper half) is COHCGIHJIIC with the rim, but the remaining half (the lower) is slightly eccentric, there being just suflicient clearance to permit the rim to fall freely over the wheel body after the tire yalve stem and the dowels have been fitted into their respective openings, and a lateral clamping member, such as illustrated in Fig. 9, will be suflicient to properly position the-rim upon the wheel body, the head of the bolt serving as a lateral stop fcrrthe block 19, said block being rigidly vheldin place by the clamp 20, secured by the nut 22. The clearance before referred to is taken up and the rim drawn downtightly upon the upper half of the wheel body and rigidly tightened upon. the lower half bymeans of distant points, but it will, of course,"be understood that any desired number of bolts can be employed.

It will be understood that the illustrations in Figs. 7 and 8, like those on' the other figures, are more or less. conventional. The dowels and dowel sea-ts, pespectively, can be larger or smaller than l-lustrated andcan be of such conformatio as is foundsuitable to permit ready an accurate fitting of the one within the other.

.The employment. of the sectorshaped plate or block 43, and the flattening of the felly part of the wheel, as at 40, enable me to obviate, disadvantageous features. that.

have been incident to wheels with demo untable trans-split rims as heretofore constructed. The split rims have required detachably fitted connecting bars or plates overlapping the line of split. And althoughcurved to conform to the curvature of the rim, they have necessitated leaving a space between the inner surfacev of the rim and the outer surf we 0f the wheel felly band. This space, n turn, has required filling blocks, studs.

buttons,-plates, or the like, to holdthe wheel body and the rim approximately concentrically. In many of these structures this space is also utilized to receive the rim- "clamping wedge devices.

By connecting the two ends-of the rim at the line of split by the sector-shaped block 43,. and flattening to a slight extent the fellypart of the wheel, I not only provide a much stronger and lighter joint for the rim ends, but also provide for neatly fitting this joining device to the wheel in such Way as to eliminate the open spacearound the large part of the circle. The number of axially acting clamps, centering and tensioning bolts is reduced and the area over which there is "practically perfect fitting of the rim tq the felly band is largely increased.

In' Fig. 10 I have shown a cross-sectional view of therim, felly and felly band, With the tensioning means arranged in said felly,

the jam nut 33 being employed in this construction also for the purpose of securely 'locking the radial bolt after the same has been adjusted to its proper position.

Instead of spacing blocks 19, the inner face of the rim can be formed with two spaced ribs 60, this construction of rim being specially adapted for rims provided with quick detachable rings or flanges.

It will be understood that various changes can be made in the details of construction of the various parts without departing from' the principles of the invention as defined in the appended claims. I From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be noted that I provide an eX- v ceedingly simple and highly efficient means for quickly connecting and disconnecting a demountable tire-carrying rim to and from the wheel body. By means of the construction herein shown, the rim must necessarily be positioned'upon-the wheel body in its true plane and the clamping'means which are employed to ultimately fasten the rim against lateral movement can be employed during the initial manipulation for the pur- 1 pose of aiding in the centering of the rim 1 incase obstructions, such as mud, rust, dirt,

and the like, are encountered. By means of the radial'tensioning devices employed in connection 1 with the lateral clamping and positioning means, the tire is rigidly and 'properly connected to th'e wheel' body, 'and 'gw g 9 th pqsit gn n a racing bl k arranged at the proper points, it practically impossible to distort the rim during the tensioning operation the rim off center.

I know that numerous wheel bodies and demountable rims therefor have been proposed, together with attachments for the wheel bodies for positively moving the rim axially and simultaneously causing outward radial pressure and peripheral tension on the rim. In all cases use has been made of a device or devices embodying wedge surfaces acting in two directions to accomplish the two said purposes simultaneously; that is, to effect rim movement, axially, and simultaneously apply pressure radially. In some cases .wedging devices have been'used at the inner edge. of the wheel periphery, and at sufiiciently to throw I the outer. edge, means have-been placed for simultaneously applyipg pressure axially and forcing the rim face. In other cases each wheel wedging said wedging or inclined devices, .Tld at the outer edge, has had a second similarwedgingdevice adapted to wedge the rim axially toward theinner wedging device, and also to exert a wedging action outward on the rim to cause peripheral tensioning thereof. In still other cases use has been made of ,'a single Wedging device (as a screw bolt with conical tip) so related to the body and the I rim that, by a single movement of this single 1 transverse planes,

device, both the axial movement of the rim and the exerting of radial pressure thereon 55i be simultaneously eliected. I eliminate entirely wedging devices for either of these purposes; all parts of my the axial pressure on lines parallel to the axis Dilly. And the parts of the rim contacting with the radially acting devices move rectilineally only.

,I believe myself to be the first to have so constructed a wheel body, and attachments, that a demountable rim of an ord-nary or suitable form can be secured by two dv vices, one of which exerts pressure on axial lines (parallel to the axis) only on the rim; the other, indepen lent of the first, exerting pressure on radial lines only, to cause peripheral tension. The first one forces the rim axially as required, at option, and locks it against displacement; action irrespective of that of the'first, bears radially outward, to an optional extent, against the rim. And I am the first to have provided (a) counterpart inter-engaging stops on the body and the rim to positively stop axial movement at predetermined together with (b) means to apply'power axially to the rim without, at any time, causing tension periphemlly on any part of the rim, and (0) devices (independent of the last said means) by which ga st he inner Wedge "ally, means on the body to device, and upward, and outward, along its the tire moving rim' respond to operable "independently of those aforesa the second, with an for tightening the aforesaid for exerting against it radial pressure only.

2. The combination with a wheel body and a demountable rim therefor, of means for exerting against said rim lateral pres sure'onlyand for locking it against movement axially, and means independent of those aforesaid for exerting against the rim radial pressure only.

3. The combination of a wheel body having rim supporting peripheral parts, demountable rim adapted to be moved axially, rim-moving devices on the body acting axipositively axial movement of the rim, and tensicni devices for exerting radial pressure 0 Wardly on the rim, the rim being mova radially independently of the stop and 1 devices while thereby.

4. The combination of a wheel body 11 ving a fellyband, radial projections at bl edge of the felly band, axially movable dially extending projections at the oppo edge of the folly band adapted to en gr 'im, demountable rim around the feliy band and adapted to be moved axially by the movable projections, and adjustable tensioning devices independent of the said projections for exerting outward radial 131G" sure on the rim, the rim being movable r ally independently of the said projections while locked axially in position thereby.

5. The combination of a wheel body haw ing rim-supporting peripheral parts, mountable rim positioned around th ripheral parts, means for stopping movement of the rim at a predetermine sition, means for moving the rim axiail: and clamping it in, said position, and in for exerting on the rim outward radial. pres-- sure. the rim being capable of radial m ment while normally clamped in said tion.

' 6. The combination with a wheel. or having a lateral stop, of a rim having mean adapted to engage said stop toposition it axially, means for bringing and hoiding said rim positioning means into contact with the stop and independent tensioning m rim upon the wheel. ban.

7. The combination with a wheel having a stop, of a demountable rim h a plurality of spacing projections to engage said stop, axially movable cl adapted to engage said projections, and the same in contact with said stop and Wheel, axially acting clamping "ineans for independent of the said clamps for exerting outward pressure upon the rim and tighten-- ing it upon the wheel.

8. The combination with a Wheel body and a demountable rim, one provided with dowels and the other with dowel seats peripherally remote from each other and the rim -.normally situated closer to the wheel body at points adja ent the said dowel sythan it is at the diametrically opposite part of the axially positioning and locking the rim relatively to the wheel at a point substantially diametrically opposite to the dowels, and means independent of the clamping devices for radially 'tensioning the rim at points.

'- adjacent'the clamping means.

- 9; The combination of a demountable transplit rim with a Wheel body having a portion of its peripheral part flattened and alsector-shaped joining bar for the ends of the rim, adapted to fit the space ofthe fiattened part of the wheel body, and means for locking the rim in normal position on the wheel body.

10. The combination with a wheel body,

one portion thereof being concentric and the remaining portion eccentric, the concentric portion having a valve stem hole, and a dowel recess, of a rim having a dowel adapted to engage said recess, and radial bolts and lateral clamps carried by the wheel body and adapted to engage said rim.

11. The combination with a wheel body having a felly provided with a positive stop at one side thereof, of a demountablc tire carrying rim having spacing blocks, the inner and outer faces of which are in radial 

